Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 3, 2024 is: deride \dih-RYDE\ verb To deride someone or something is to subject them to usually harsh and bitter insults or criticism. // Although derided by classmates for his insistence that he would be a millionaire by the age of 25, he achieved his goal when his Internet startup went public. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deride) Examples: “Founded in 2012, this Redwood City brewery stands out for its British-style cask ales.... It's a traditional way of making beer without adding carbon dioxide. Often derided as resulting in beers that are flat and warm, that's not actually the case.” — Jay R. Brooks, The Mercury News (San Jose, California), 12 Mar. 2024 Did you know? Laughter may or may not be the best medicine—your mileage may vary—but it’s essential to understanding the verb deride. To deride someone or something is not merely to criticize or insult them, but to lower them (or attempt to lower them) in others’ esteem by making them appear ridiculous or worthy of mockery. This meaning is reflected in the word’s origins: deride comes from the Latin verb deridēre, a combination of the prefix [de-](https://bit.ly/4dfqqYm) (“to reduce or make lower”) and ridēre, meaning “to laugh.” Ridēre echoes in other English words as well, including [ridicule](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ridicule) and [ridiculous](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ridiculous). Ridicule functions as both verb (“to make fun of”) and noun (“the act of making fun of”), while ridiculous describes what arouses or deserves ridicule or mockery. More obscure than either of these ridēre descendants is the medical term [risorius](https://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/risorius), which refers to a narrow band of muscle fibers in the face that reach to the corners of the mouth to make smiling possible. One does not necessarily need one’s risorius to deride something—people in the act of deriding may appear quite angry, even—but inspiring the bitter, contemptuous laughter of those within earshot is often the goal.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 2, 2024 is: incidence \IN-suh-dunss\ noun Incidence refers to the number of times something happens or develops—in other words, the rate at which something occurs. // The neighborhood boasts excellent schools and a low incidence of crime. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incidence) Examples: "Pickleball, which is played with a perforated plastic ball and wooden paddles on a badminton-sized court, is the fastest growing sport in the U.S., with the number of players rising from 4.8 million in 2021 to 8.9 million in 2023, according to USA Pickleball. … A study co-authored by [Dr. Eric] Bowman that has not yet been published finds that between 2017 and 2022, the incidence of pickleball-related injuries rose faster than the growth of the sport’s popularity." — Linda Carroll, NBC News, 12 Feb. 2024 Did you know? The words [incident](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incident), incidence, and [instance](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/instance) may seem similar (and, in fact, incident and incidence are closely related), but they are applied in different ways. In current use, incidence usually means "rate of occurrence" and is often qualified in some way ("a high incidence of bear sightings"). Incident usually refers to a particular event, often something unusual or unpleasant ("many such incidents go unreported"). Instance suggests a particular occurrence that is offered as an example ("another instance of a simple change bringing real improvement"); it can also be synonymous with case ("many instances/cases in which the wrong form was submitted"). The plural incidences sometimes occurs in such contexts as "several recent incidences of bear sightings," but this use is often criticized as incorrect.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 1, 2024 is: svelte \SVELT\ adjective Someone described as svelte is considered slender or thin in an attractive or graceful way. Svelte can also be used to describe something sleek, such as a vehicle or an article of clothing. // The svelte dancer seemed to float across the stage. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/svelte) Examples: “There’s more plastic than some would prefer, but it’s otherwise an attractive, functional cockpit with comfy seats and room enough for three adults in the rear, as long as all are relatively svelte.” — Josh Max, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2024 Did you know? In Death on the Rocks, a 2013 mystery novel by Deryn Lake, the hero John Rawlings is described as having “svelte eyebrows” (he raises them also in 1995’s Death at the Beggar’s Opera). Lake’s [oeuvre](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oeuvre) notwithstanding, svelte is not an adjective commonly applied to eyebrows, though it’s perfectly appropriate to do so—one of the word’s meanings is “sleek,” and it is often used to describe such disparate things as gowns and sports cars having clean lines. But “svelte eyebrows” also makes etymological sense; svelte came to English (by way of French) from the Italian adjective svelto, which itself comes from the verb svellere, meaning “to pluck out.” Since its debut in English in the early 19th century, however, svelte has more often been used with its original meaning to describe a person’s body—not just the tufts of hair above their eyes—as slender, graceful, or [lithe](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lithe).

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 31, 2024 is: foist \FOIST\ verb Foist, which is almost always used with on or upon, is used when someone forces another person to accept something, usually something that is not good or is not wanted. Foist can also mean “to pass off as genuine or worthy.” // I don’t want to foist anything on you, but if you like this old quilt you’re welcome to have it. // Faulty parts have been foisted on unwitting car owners. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foist) Examples: “Since the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act during the New Deal era, employers have had to pay most of their workers for 40 hours of work even when business was slow. That was just the cost of doing business, a risk capitalists bore in exchange for the upside potential of profit. Now, however, employers foist that risk onto their lowest-paid workers: Part-time employees, not shareholders, have to pay the price when sale volumes fluctuate.” — Adelle Waldman, The New York Times, 19 Feb. 2024 Did you know? That the word foist is commonly used today to mean “to force another to accept by stealth or deceit” makes sense given its original—now obsolete—use in talking about a bit of literal [sleight of hand](https://bit.ly/4b1ost2). When it first rolled into English in the mid-1500s, foist was all about dice, dice, baby, referring to [palming](https://bit.ly/3JHlk9V)—that is, concealing in one’s hand a phony die so as to secretly introduce it into a game at a convenient time. The action involved in this cheating tactic reflects the etymology of foist: the word is believed to have come from the obsolete Dutch verb vuisten, meaning “to take into one’s hand.” Vuisten in turn comes from vuyst, the Middle Dutch word for “fist,” which itself is distantly related to the Old English ancestor of [fist](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fist). By the late 16th century, foist was being used in English to mean “to insert surreptitiously,” and it quickly acquired the “force to accept” meaning that is most familiar today.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 30, 2024 is: dynasty \DYE-nuh-stee\ noun Dynasty refers to a group (such as a team, family, etc.) that is very powerful or successful for a long period of time. It is also often used for a family of rulers who rule over a country for a long period of time, as well as the period of time when a particular dynasty is in power. // The team’s draft picks reflected the ownership’s strategy of building a long-term football dynasty. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dynasty) Examples: “The Vanderberg dynasty was in steel, railroads and textiles as well as [munitions](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/munition). Their money was so old that it underlay the United States like geology. Before there had been a United States, in fact, there had been Vanderbergs and they had already been rich.” — Francis Spufford, Cahokia Jazz: A Novel, 2024 Did you know? Dynasty has had quite the run in English. For over 600 years it’s been used to refer to a ruling family that maintains power generation after generation. At the time dynasty was first used in English, for example, England was in the midst of rule by the [Plantagenet](https://www.britannica.com/topic/house-of-Plantagenet) dynasty, whose line of [succession](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/succession) provided 14 kings, from [Henry II](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-II-king-of-England) to [Richard III](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-III-king-of-England). Around the beginning of the 19th century, the word developed the figurative sense “a group or family that dominates a particular field for generations.” Nowadays, this sense of dynasty is often applied to sports franchises that have prolonged runs of successful seasons, [divine right](https://bit.ly/3vD6az0) not required. Technically, any team is capable of becoming this type of dynasty, including not only [Kings](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sacramento-Kings) and [Royals](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kansas-City-Royals), but also [Ducks](https://www.britannica.com/sports/Anaheim-Ducks).

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 29, 2024 is: obstreperous \ub-STREP-uh-rus\ adjective Obstreperous is a formal word that describes people or things that stubbornly resist control; in this use it’s a synonym of [unruly](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unruly). A person or thing described as obstreperous may also be defiantly or aggressively noisy. // The moment the paper airplane landed, the instructor addressed the unruly class, telling them in the harshest tone that obstreperous conduct would not be tolerated. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/obstreperous) Examples: “In the 1887 essay ‘Silent People as Misjudged by the Noisy,’ an Atlantic contributor proposed an economical approach to talking: ‘As we get on in life past the period of obstreperous youth, we incline to talk less and write less, especially on the topics which we have most at heart,’ the writer noted. ‘We are beginning to realize the uselessness of perpetually talking … If there is a thing to be said, we prefer to wait and say it only when and where it will hit something or somebody.’” — Isabel Fattal, The Atlantic, 17 Feb. 2024 Did you know? Imagine walking a dog down a sidewalk in a neighborhood full of delicious smells and other temptations—it’s easy to picture your pooch barking and straining at the leash to chase a squirrel, or dragging you toward something enticingly (to them) stinky, right? But can you imagine saying to your [doggo](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doggo) in response, “Quit being so obstreperous!” Probably not. Obstreperous has a much more formal flair than words, such as stubborn or unruly, used to describe similar behavior. As such it’s unlikely to be used in casual speech or contexts like the one above. The word comes from a combination of the handy Latin prefix ob- (meaning “against”) and strepere, a verb meaning “to make a noise”; someone who is obstreperous can be thought of as literally making noise to rebel against something, much like a protesting crowd or an unruly child. Strepere has made little noise in the English lexicon, however; in addition to obstreperous it seems only to have contributed to the rarely encountered [strepitous](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/strepitous) and its synonym strepitant, which mean “characterized or accompanied by much noise”—that is, “noisy.”

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 28, 2024 is: gadfly \GAD-flye\ noun In literal use, gadfly refers to any of various flies (such as a horsefly, [botfly](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/botfly), or [warble fly](https://bit.ly/49NrOi9)) that bite or annoy [livestock](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/livestock). Gadfly is most popular in figurative use, however, where it refers to someone who provokes or annoys other people especially by persistent criticism. // The journalist was known as a gadfly for exposing hypocrisy in politics. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gadfly) Examples: "For years, the [L.A. County Board of Supervisors] has regularly had a 'performance evaluation' scheduled for closed session on its agenda. Any reporter or gadfly worth their salt knew this was actually just a time for the board to call a department head onto the carpet and scream at them behind closed doors." — Jaclyn Cosgrove, The Los Angeles Times, 9 Dec. 2023 Did you know? It's easy to guess what puts the fly in gadfly: in its oldest meaning, fly refers to a winged insect. But ([gadzooks](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gadzooks)!) what about the gad? As a standalone English word, [gad](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gad) means "chisel," but it once could be used for a spike, spear, or rod for goading cattle. It was in the 16th century that gad was joined with [fly](https://bit.ly/49Nc4eY) to refer to any of several insects that bother livestock. Before too long, English speakers began applying gadfly to people who annoy or provoke others. One of history's most famous gadflies was the philosopher [Socrates](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Socrates), who was known for his constant questioning of his fellow Athenians' ethics, misconceptions, and assumptions. In his Apology, [Plato](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Plato) describes Socrates' characterization of Athens as a large and sluggish horse and of Socrates himself as the fly that bites and rouses it. Many translations use gadfly in this portion of the Apology, and Socrates is sometimes referred to as the "gadfly of Athens."

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 27, 2024 is: glean \GLEEN\ verb To glean is to gather or collect something bit by bit, or in a gradual way. Glean can also be used to mean “to search (something) carefully” and “to find out.” // Neil has a collection of antique tools gleaned from flea markets and garage sales. // They spent days gleaning the files for information. // The police used old-fashioned detective work to glean his whereabouts. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glean) Examples: “Not only did procuring money to maintain her company figure in Graham’s acceptance of the occasional theater job during the 1930s; perhaps, too, she thought that being associated with a successful play could bring new audiences to her dance performances. There can be no doubt that she gleaned something from each experience outside the rigorous and profoundly idiosyncratic works she created for her company, even if she learned that there were some projects she would prefer never to undertake again.” — Deborah Jowitt, Errand into the Maze: The Life and Works of Martha Graham, 2024 Did you know? While it is certainly true that one must reap what one sows (that is, harvest the crops that one plants), what should be done about the grain and other produce left over that the reapers missed? Well, friends, that must be gleaned—[waste not, want not](https://bit.ly/4aRGUV1), after all. It’s a finicky business, too, picking through stalks and under leaves and whatnot. When it was first used in English in the 14th century, glean carried both the sense of “to gather grain or other produce left by reapers” and the more figurative meaning of “to gather information or material bit by bit,” reflecting the slow, gradual, painstaking work of scouring the fields. Over the years, and especially in the 20th and 21st centuries, glean has also come to be used frequently with the meaning “to find out, learn, ascertain.” This sense has been criticized by folks who think glean should always imply the drudgery involved in the literal grain-gathering sense, but it is well established and perfectly valid.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 26, 2024 is: symposium \sim-POH-zee-um\ noun Symposium can refer either to a formal meeting at which experts discuss a particular topic, or to a collection of articles on a particular subject. Symposium has two plural forms: symposia and symposiums. // Professors and graduate students attended a three-day symposium on climate change. // The organization will be publishing a symposium on genetic research. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/symposium) Examples: “In 1966, at a meeting remembered in anthropological lore as the beginning of hunter-gatherer studies, seventy-five experts assembled in Chicago to synthesize our knowledge about foraging peoples. More than ninety-nine per cent of human history was spent without agriculture, the organizers figured, so it was worth documenting that way of life before it disappeared altogether. The symposium—and an associated volume that appeared two years later, both titled ‘Man the Hunter’—exemplified an obsession with hunting, meat-eating, and maleness.” — Manvir Singh, The New Yorker, 25 Sept. 2023 Did you know? When you hear the word symposium, you may—quite understandably—envision conferences full of intellectuals giving heady presentations on various [arcana](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/arcana). But it was drinking, more than thinking, that drew people to the original symposia and gave us the word. Symposium (symposia or symposiums in plural form) comes from the Greek noun symposion, the word ancient Greeks used for a drinking party that follows a banquet. Symposion in turn comes from sympinein, a verb that combines pinein, meaning “to drink,” with the prefix syn-, meaning “together.” Originally, English speakers only used symposium to refer to such an ancient Greek party, but in the 18th century British gentlemen’s clubs started using the word for [confabs](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/confab) in which conversation was fueled by drinking. By the end of the 18th century, symposium had gained the more sober sense we know today, referring to meetings in which the focus is more on imbibing ideas and less on imbibing, say, [mead](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mead).

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 25, 2024 is: countermand \KOUNT-er-mand\ verb To countermand an order is to revoke it, especially by giving a new order. // Orders to blow up the bridge were countermanded by local officials. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/countermand) Examples: "He [rugby player Lewis Jones] almost missed his 1950 Welsh debut as he was about to board an aircraft carrier for Hong Kong before the orders were countermanded." — The Daily Telegraph (London), 9 Mar. 2024 Did you know? In the military, one's mandate is to follow the commands (and sometimes the countermands) of the officers. Doing their bidding is not particularly commendable—it's simply mandatory. The Latin verb mandare, meaning "to entrust" or "to order," is the authority behind countermand. It's also behind the words [mandate](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mandate), [command](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/command), [demand](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/demand), [commend](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/commend) (which can mean "to entrust" as well as "to praise"), and [mandatory](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mandatory). Countermand came to English via Anglo French, where the prefix cuntre- ("against") was combined with the verb mander ("to command"). It has been a part of English since the 1400s.

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 23, 2024 is: panoply \PAN-uh-plee\ noun Panoply is a formal word that refers to a group or collection that is impressive either because of its size or because it includes so many different kinds of people or things. // The new website offers shoppers a panoply of snack foods, soft drinks, and other treats from around the world. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/panoply) Examples: “Given that all of us, in our daily lives, are constantly confronted by a limitless confusion of knowledge … one can say that all of us are being educated all the while, and that education is in its essence the business of any transmission of knowledge from one party to another. … No part of this vast panoply of knowledge diffusion is more important for the future of human society than that which passes in one direction, downward across the generations, from the older members of a society to the younger.” — Simon Winchester, Knowing What We Know, 2023 Did you know? Despite having Greek origins and similar sounds, panoply is not related—etymologically or [semantically](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/semantic)—to [monopoly](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monopoly); its history has more to do with Mediterranean warfare than Mediterranean Avenue. Panoply comes from the Greek word panoplia, which referred to the full suit of armor worn by [hoplites](https://www.britannica.com/topic/hoplite), heavily armed infantry soldiers of ancient Greece. Panoplia is a blend of the prefix pan-, meaning “all,” and hopla, meaning “arms” or “armor.” (As you may have guessed, hopla is also an ancestor of [hoplite](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hoplite).) Panoply entered English in the early 17th century with its Greek use intact: it referred to a full set of armor—an impressive array, you might say, of protective [bits and bobs](https://bit.ly/3PMr0ml), from breastplates to [brassards](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brassard). Over time, panoply developed its figurative sense referring to an impressive, extensive collection or array of things, as in “She won the game by bankrupting her opponents with a panoply of properties built up with houses and hotels.”

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